Many thousands of immigrant families settled in this country from Europe in the last 150 years, and the little girls brought their dolls with them. The little girls eventually became old ladies and passed away, but the dolls remained. Some were given to the servants’ children, and others were simply thrown away. Fortunately many were kept for sentimental reasons or merely as curiosities. One should look again at these curiosities. They have become very valuable properties in their own right.

Many of the 19th century dolls were made of ‘bisque’. (This was an unglazed type of porcelain, which was first developed in the mid 18th century and used through the 19th century, until the arrival of early plastics. The market is now overflowing with cheap reproductions, some are being faked by making up clothes of old materials and distressing the head and limbs. The average price for a Victorian example at the moment is about R250 in London, but the better quality dolls are fetching remarkably high prices. For example, French bisque headed doll by Bru, Paris, was sold for $10 30. A German papier maché doll, circa 1840, was sold for $1 19.5. A good French 19th century doll by Hureg, made about 1860, fetched $1 16.5.

Antique Collection

The European dealers who come here every summer are constantly seeking old dolls at bargain prices, and for very good reason.

They are looking for productions of the 19th century or earlier. Some examples are quite rare. Early 19th century French and German dolls are valuable. They are usually in glazed porcelain or bisque; in some cases they have identification marks indicating the makers names such as ‘Simon’, ‘Halbig’, ‘Rohmer’, and ‘Simone’. There are few specialist dealers in this field.

In the antique trade items which have a value that the public is not aware of are referred to as ’sleepers’. The expression seems appropriate here.

A great deal of ancillary business was generated by the doll industry. There were dolls houses, miniature utensils and pottery—some of the more important manufacturers such as Meissen and Frankenthal made these, the cheaper varieties were made by the Staffordshire potteries.

All of the miniature items were not toys, it should be remembered that in the 18th century photographs were not available and many items were scaled down to tiny proportions for the purpose of providing portable samples for the commercial travellers of the time. The items ranged from household wares to drawing room furniture, the high standard of finish and much superior quality enables one to separate them from the childrens playthings. These early ‘travelers samples’ are rare and valuable.

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